President-elect Donald Trump’s team is holding talks with the digital asset industry about the possibility of creating a new position in the White House dedicated exclusively to policies related to cryptocurrencies, according to people familiar with the transition efforts.
Trump’s team is studying candidates for office, the people said. If created, it would be the first cryptocurrency-specific position in the White House and would highlight the influence of the nascent industry on the incoming administration.
It is unclear whether a White House position or a “cryptocurrency czar” will be created — Washington slang for a key person to oversee policy and regulation across the federal government — the people said.
Crypto industry advocates are pushing for the role to have a direct line to Trump, they noted. Trump’s transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump supported the crypto industry during the election campaign, promising to fire the current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, which has cracked down on the digital asset industry, as well as reducing regulation and creating a new presidential cryptoasset advisory council.
Cryptocurrency advocates are vying for a spot in that group, according to several people familiar with the discussions.
Trump met with executives from bitcoin mining companies and cryptocurrency exchanges on several occasions over the summer and spoke at a bitcoin conference in July. The president-elect also has several cryptocurrency businesses. It launched its fourth collection of non-fungible tokens recently and also helped launch a new company called World Liberty Financial.
Discussions about the cryptocurrency position have included one person leading a small team and which acts as a liaison between Congress, the White House and the various agencies with jurisdiction over crypto assets, including the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the people said.
Cryptocurrency allies traveled to Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, in recent days. where the president-elect’s team is holding personnel conversations and interviewing potential candidates.
Former Coinbase Global and Binance.US executive Brian Brooks, who is also a possible candidate for SEC chairman, met with Trump on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the meeting.
